I just noticed our air movers to our Claustrophobia (http://www.scareproducts.com/cms.Catalog.aspx?catalog=Claustrophobia_Effects) are part of a recall that was just announced June 19th 2012. Do yourself a favor and check the part numbers on your air movers before you use them again this season! You just might save your haunt from a true nightmare. I contacted Scare Products to notify Frank of this recall, please share this with anyone that you know that has these type air bags.

Remedy: Users should immediately stop using the recalled air movers/blowers and contact EDIC for a free repair kit to be installed by users.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact the firm toll-free at (888 289-8720 between 8:30 a.m. through 4 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, by fax at (323) 667-0144, by email at recall@edic-usa.com or visit the firm's website at www.EDIC-USA.com (http://edic-carpetcleaningmachines.com/recall/)

http://edic-carpetcleaningmachines.com/recall/

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12199.html

Frightener

07-23-2012, 09:48 PM

Thanks! Great Big Ol' heads up.

I don't use one but thank you much for sharing. It's all about safety, for all of us.

Dewayne

tonguesandwich

07-23-2012, 11:14 PM

Thanks.. I have a bunch!

drfrightner

07-24-2012, 02:26 AM

I'm just going to be honest here... I've said this before but this is the dumbest idea I've ever seen for a haunted house. Its PURE STUPID and I think anyone who puts them in their haunts are not thinking straight. A haunted house has NOTHING to do with an air bag that squeezes you... its more like a funhouse kind of thing not something that should be in a haunted house. Its just stupid!

Furthermore I think its unsafe forget about the blower that catches fire... there just seems like so many things that can go wrong here from causing a panic attach from those who have problems with those feelings, to breathing issues, to simply put people can spit on them, barf on them, who knows what are on their bodies, cloths or anything. Someone could fall down in them and being walked on whatever.

DUMB DUMB DUMB... they barely would belong in a funhouse much less a haunted house.

If you ever see one of these in one of my haunts someone please shoot me because it will mean I've lost all sense of reality and could jump off a cliff at any moment... LOL

Larry

drfrightner

07-24-2012, 02:28 AM

BTW... Tony thanks for the heads up the last thing the haunt industry needs is one of these burning down someones haunt. Again thanks for the heads up!

Larry

Darksidestew

07-24-2012, 05:20 AM

Most of my patrons are terrified to go though it...so not sure what you mean by fun house.

Darksidestew

Slain

07-24-2012, 08:14 AM

Larry,
These bags are probrobly the most popular thing I've seen in years. I've had grown men scared to go through them just because of the shear sense of being trapped. A few years back Robert Englund and his wife hated those things (in a good way).. Thats when we knew we have stubbled on to something. We only have a couple, but when they are put in the right places the effect is over the top..It is also a good effect to seperate scenes from one to the next if you use them properly..
Tony thanks for the heads up on the blowers..

mindtumor

07-24-2012, 08:36 AM

I don't like them in haunts either but not because I think they are stupid or scary. I call them the Ringworm Special.

Evernight

07-24-2012, 09:04 AM

I would have to disagree on what Larry said - Are they scary and a great item for most of the people...YES! We had one and everyone loved it and talked about it and we would actually have people ask us if we were going to have it again because they wanted to bring their friends to go through it - is it dangerous? Could be...but then again so is a vortex tunnel - I have seen more people fall, shove, tumble, etc. in these than I have in a claustrophobia set up.

Onto the gross factor - Yes we have no clue what is on people's bodies that are rubbing up against the walls of these, but the truth of the matter is that there are probably just as many nasty germs on your cellphone, any door knob or handle that gets used by the public - Do you use a sponge or dish cloth for washing dishes? Just letting it set for a few hours after washing will build up tons of nasty bacteria and germs - The point is yes the fabric is going to get germs on it....but so is everything else. Do you know how many people I watched at Larry's haunt running their hands over the foam skulls and walls in the waiting area - and more than once I saw people cough and then run their hands over the walls to feel the texture.....It's something that we can not avoid but the chances of anyone getting sick from it is about the same chances they have of eating at a restaurant, putting their hands on a steering wheel, holding the rails in a vortex tunnel, etc.

You can help by washing everything and spraying a disinfectant on the walls after each nights use....but the germs will still be there....they are everywhere.

freak 'n' stein

07-24-2012, 09:25 AM

I would have to disagree on what Larry said - Are they scary and a great item for most of the people...YES! We had one and everyone loved it and talked about it and we would actually have people ask us if we were going to have it again because they wanted to bring their friends to go through it - is it dangerous? Could be...but then again so is a vortex tunnel - I have seen more people fall, shove, tumble, etc. in these than I have in a claustrophobia set up.

Onto the gross factor - Yes we have no clue what is on people's bodies that are rubbing up against the walls of these, but the truth of the matter is that there are probably just as many nasty germs on your cellphone, any door knob or handle that gets used by the public - Do you use a sponge or dish cloth for washing dishes? Just letting it set for a few hours after washing will build up tons of nasty bacteria and germs - The point is yes the fabric is going to get germs on it....but so is everything else. Do you know how many people I watched at Larry's haunt running their hands over the foam skulls and walls in the waiting area - and more than once I saw people cough and then run their hands over the walls to feel the texture.....It's something that we can not avoid but the chances of anyone getting sick from it is about the same chances they have of eating at a restaurant, putting their hands on a steering wheel, holding the rails in a vortex tunnel, etc.

You can help by washing everything and spraying a disinfectant on the walls after each nights use....but the germs will still be there....they are everywhere.

My opinion on the matter...yes, they have a gross out factor (IF YOU SIT THERE AND ANALYZE) to them but they're a great effect. I personally use my hands to separate them anyway...it's not like a I just walk straight through cause yes, that IS nasty...and I don't think they were necessarily designed to be simply walked through without separating them. That being said, I've effectively reduced my germ exposure to the same amount I encounter in the real world everyday. Handling money, grabbing door handles, tounching merchandise in stores, the list goes on!! In terms of danger, most haunts have a bypass (or should) because you run into customers who a) refuse to go through them PERIOD and impede flow and b) customers with physical limitations.

By far one of the best products I've seen. Innovation at it's best!! At my first Transworld three years ago I was terrified to walk through them! And to remedy the full body experience there IS the waist high version...way less germy...compare it to sitting in a movie theater seat at worst (which I personally CAN NOT STAND)...

To all the germaphobes...LYSOL!! :)

Evernight

07-24-2012, 09:31 AM

The bypass is a great idea for this - We provided a bypass because we knew some would be just to scared to go through and we are glad we did...we had a few people that attempted it but just could not get more than a foot in before freaking out. I'm sure people with germ issues could use the bypass as well :)

mindtumor

07-24-2012, 10:53 AM

Germs are just part of it. I am more concerned about the skin fungus and just the fact someone else's fresh sweat is now on me. And yeah a door handle is germy but its still not as bad as having your face sandwiched between two inflated sweat soaked, germ filled, smelly, pestilance spreading pieces of canvas, lol. And maybe you clean your claustrophobia tunnel, but it don't mean every haunt cleans their's.

drfrightner

07-24-2012, 01:13 PM

One guy likes alien themes, one guy likes a mansion, the next a dungeon, one guy likes these things the next guy doesn't. We'll never agree on this because I think its a the dumbest thing I've ever seen in a haunt. In my mind its just that a gag, and in a haunt I think you should try to be more realistic than that. Again just a difference of opinion.

As for the safety concerns yeah I have a bunch of them with this thing... so that goes into my opinion as well.

Larry

screamforadream

07-24-2012, 01:22 PM

I really have to agree with Larry on this one. They just aren't a realistic or scary effect, HOWEVER, I would use the waist high ones in a heartbeat, or, if a company made a see-through one that could have a scene going on behind it, it would make a really neat gas chamber or biohazard scene, but just the plain black is dumb and unsanitary. Maybe it'd be easier to keep clean if it was see-through too cause you'd be able to see the gross stuff easier and cleaning it at the end of each night would really do well. That and if it was see through people would be less likely to rub their gross all over it and would be more conscientious of their ick and others ick....maybe. lol

mindtumor

07-24-2012, 01:25 PM

LOL, you probably wouldn't have people going through it if they could see the human grease smears on it before they went through. I got sick just from thinking about that, lol. However, I do agree you could probably actually make something scary if it were clear..

Darksidestew

07-24-2012, 03:39 PM

Yes a bypass is nessessary.

I have seen the best of the best

If we are looking for "REALISTIC" then there is not 1 haunted attraction on the planet thats "REALISTIC"........

Darksidestew

Darkangel

07-24-2012, 03:40 PM

I've seen them used at most haunts even the bigger ones like Bates Motel and I think Netherworld uses them, it's like a chainsaw at this point.

DA

Darkangel

07-24-2012, 03:45 PM

Yes a bypass is nessessary.

I have seen the best of the best

If we are looking for "REALISTIC" then there is not 1 haunted attraction on the planet thats "REALISTIC"........

Darksidestew

Excellent response here and he is right. There are no realistic haunts. Look at Larry's haunt the Darkness for example. It's incredibly detailed, beautifully detailed but there is no haunted house that would really be that detailed and have monsters in every room. The most realistic haunted house would look like the house in Woman in Black and that would be boring as hell to tour as a haunted attraction. Haunts are make believe and over the top and guests miss 95% of the finer details you put into your shows anyway so you might as well use gags and be over the top because it's certainly not realistic if it were real you'd be killed in the first scene!

DA

The Wilmont Estate

07-24-2012, 05:32 PM

I think pillows on the ground are more effective.

zombietoxin

07-25-2012, 03:31 PM

two words- psychological terror.

gross? I suppose- if you're lazy. your ass would be nasty too if you didn't wash it daily either...

freak 'n' stein

07-26-2012, 01:00 AM

two words- psychological terror.

gross? I suppose- if you're lazy. your ass would be nasty too if you didn't wash it daily either...

THANK YOU!!!!

Just cause one person isn't claustrophobic doesn't mean many more aren't!! Or vice-versa...

To say a "gag" is dumb IS dumb...It's not for every haunt...if you disagree then continue on living without one!!

empty, long, dark hallways scare people...

being touched by thread hanging from the ceiling scares people...

loud noises, air and weird smells scare people...

To discount any scare tactic a haunt uses would essentially nullify most shows that exist today...it all comes back to psychology.

I also agree realism is HUGE but some aspects have to be exaggerated to take a show to the next level (in terms of senses) because let's face it, a HUGE number of our clientele are getting more and more desensitized as the days go on. Dinosaurs and giant gorillas are NOT typically encountered on a day to day...neither are mummies, vampires or three headed dogs. Realism is not the point here.

George Maser

07-29-2012, 11:03 PM

Lions and tigers and bears (Oh my!)
I've got a beautiful clear material with an oversized scrim (nylon mesh) for stregnth. I've put it in several squeeze rooms (clost. rooms). It has been holding up beautifully for the last 4 seasons. Putting an actor "behind the wall" would also be an easy thing to do since he would have a constant supply of fresh air. Your patrons would squeeze between the dark pillows and half way through a strobe comes on and theres a monster separated from them by only 2 milimeters of fabric.
Germs are everywhere….everywhere. If snotty nosed kids were a real threat there would be no schools, no restaurants, no public transportation, no movie theatres, no malls and no haunted houses. Sex would be out too.
If you don't like a prop - don't use it, you don't need an excuse, it's a free country.
George Maser
By the way, my fans have not been recalled and are fine to use.

Haunted Yard Props

07-30-2012, 10:00 AM

I bought a *DUMB* Claustrophobia last year from Onadira - Scare Products and it came with the recalled fans. Model 3004AD

Just a word of warning to those who are not sure.

I love the product and so do the patrons.

Ed Z

Dr Spooktakular

08-02-2012, 11:48 AM

If you have not done so yet, do the electronic recall email that Tony posted on the first thread. EDIC rep told me it takes 2 weeks to receive email and mail out replacement parts. I emailed them the day this thread started, I was getting worried because there was no response so I called EDIC today. They told me the parts are mailed to the address given in the electronic email but there is no other communication from them, they gave a timeline of 14-17 days post email.

George Maser

08-02-2012, 10:36 PM

I get a huge volume discount and would be glad to help with replacement fans shipped sameday from the factory. Please call for the fastest service. George Maser 864-761-7223